Every day my daughter came home from school saying, ‘There’s a child at my teacher’s house who looks exactly like me.’ I quietly looked into it—only to uncover a cruel truth tied to my husband’s family…..

“No,” I replied slowly, “you do not understand because she looks exactly like Hazel.”

For a brief second something flickered across Garrett’s face before disappearing. “You are just stressed from work,” he said calmly.

His tone felt strangely controlled, which sent a cold chill down my spine. The following day while Hazel was at daycare I called Angela and told her I had forgotten to sign one of Hazel’s forms and wanted to stop by quickly.

She hesitated before agreeing. When I arrived, only two children were playing in the living room and Angela stood near the doorway. Her daughter was nowhere in sight.

“Where is your little girl?” I asked lightly.

Angela froze before answering, “She is taking a nap.”

“Can I say hello?” I asked.

“No,” she blurted before quickly correcting herself by saying that her daughter was shy around strangers.

While pretending to sign the form I had printed earlier, I glanced toward a hallway where a small door stood slightly open. Inside the doorway stood the girl. She looked directly at me. Our eyes met.

In that instant I felt my heart drop because she was not staring like a stranger but rather like a child observing someone familiar.